All eyes in the baseball world right now are laser-focused on Roki Sasaki. The 23-year-old Japanese flamethrowing phenom is seemingly days away from signing with an MLB club. Reports indicate that Sasaki has narrowed his options to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays. Whichever franchise lands the uber-talented youngster will get the bargain of the winter: a controllable, electrifying starting pitcher with immense upside.
But while Sasaki’s decision will have massive repercussions on the 2025 MLB season and beyond, the arrival of another Japanese talent could have an even bigger impact on the future of Japanese-American baseball relations.
Shotaro Morii is an 18-year-old two-way player who is widely considered one of the best players in his Japanese high school class. But rather than embarking upon a pro career in Japan, like thousands of his countrymen have done, Morii opted to blaze a new path by signing with the Athletics as an …